Chapter 3 – The Ticket Off-World
Location: The Veiled Lady, one of the cargo ships owned by Kurka the Hutt
Time: 7 Years Before the Battle of Yavin
The horror and immense pain that Bihan's death had brought them had not faded over the course of the three days leading up to this day. The memory of their best friend's final moments continued replaying in their heads over and over again as they carried about their mundane tasks assigned to them by Kurka the Hutt's henchmen. Ash and Art had thought it impossible, a life more degrading than being drug dealing peasants in the slums of Malastare, yet here they were, little more than slaves, the property of a disgusting creature whose influence and reach in the galaxy was that of a cancer.
In the cook room, Ash and Art worked with a few other slaves, manufacturing Kurka's signature drug. This stuff was significantly higher in quality compared to the cheap, thrown together spice that they had been selling back home, and it was partially morbid curiosity to see how it was supposed to be done, despite the circumstances. Ingredients from many worlds, measured, processed, combined together to create the narcotic craze that had swept the galaxy.
Ash and Art were tasked with operating and closely monitoring the filtration process. No unnecessary toxins were to be detected in the final product, under threat of death. With guards closely monitoring each step of the process, it was hard not to feel the gravity of the situation. They were at the forefront of one of the key ingredients in this massive criminal empire, the horrible drug they were making would be distributed to countless beings across the galaxy, profiting that slug that ordered the death of Bihan.
Ash looked over at Art, who was finishing up the process of loading the Brylium wax into the large, metallic filter. Ash could tell, from the look on his friend's face, that he was deep in thought, very distant and cold.
"Hey, what are you thinking about, bro?" Ash quietly asked.
"How we're going to get out of here." Art replied.
Ash paused for a moment. "You know that's not gonna happen, right?" Ash said.
"This is not going to be the rest of our lives, Ash. We're going to get out of this, and we're going to have our revenge." Art stated.
"I'm not saying we'll be here forever, I'm saying we're not masterminds, man. We're not going to break out of here like we're super spies."
Art rolled his eyes and continued the filtration process while Ash began loading one of the batches into the convection oven.
"Oh it's not that bad!" a Chadra-Fan spoke up.
This was the first time any of the other slaves had said anything to Ash and Art. The short, brown furred rodent-like creature looked up at them with a cheeky smile.
"Being a slave isn't that bad?" Ash asked.
"Do you even hear yourself?" Art added.
"Well look at it this way, you don't have any bills to pay, we get to travel the galaxy for free, and there's always something to do!" the Chadra-Fan said cheerfully.
"I gotta say, I wish I had your outlook on life." Ash said.
"We just lost someone to these thugs a few days ago, so forgive us if we have a hard time seeing the uh... bigger picture." Art said.
"Spend enough time here, you'll see it too. I am Tooni." the furry being said.
"Ash Ulrand."
"Art Regfeld. How long you been here?"
"Oh I'd say the better part of three years." Tooni said, "The guards seem to like me because I never cause any trouble!"
"I think your positivity is killing me, Tooni." Art said.
Tooni grinned as she wiped down the plastisteel trays in preparation for the next step in the spice making process. She seemed to beam with pride as the tray seemed to shine in a state of cleanliness, ready to be the platform for the powdered drug to be cooled to perfection. Ash found himself smiling as well, for the first time in a while, watching the cute, bat-faced alien eagerly perform its job.
"The attitude is somewhat infectious." Ash said.
"Now you're killing me." Art said.
"Wrong!" a Nikto merc said as he approached Art, "Not filtered right! See clumps?" the guard said as he pointed a few clumps of black material that had accumulated in the product.
"Alright, I'm sorry!" Art said.
"Do again!" the Nikto shouted as he dumped the raw spice materials on Art's head, "Stop wasting goods!"
"Listen here, you goddamned alien, this is my first time making this shit-" Art began saying before being slapped hard in the face.
Art quickly responded by landing a hard punch to the side of the Nikto's face, knocking him off balance a few steps. Within what seemed like an instant, two other guards jumped in to assist, taking Art to the ground and wailing on him with their clubs and feet.
Terrified at the thought of losing another friend so soon, Ash jumped in to help.
"GET OFF HIM!" Ash shouted as he tried to push one of the guards.
Although he was somewhat expecting it, Ash hadn't anticipated just how hard the guard would swing his elbow right into his face. Ash tumbled backwards, landing hard on the ground where the guard continued his assault on him. Despite the scuffle being over within a matter of seconds, it seemed to drag on for hours as the much heavier guards pummeled the two friends into submission.
"Back to work." one of the guards said as they walked away.
With that, Ash and Art stood back up, bloody and defeated. The other slaves wouldn't look at the two directly, all except Tooni.
"I don't think the guards like you very much." Tooni observed out loud.
"What an astute observation, friend." Ash said.
"If you want to finish up the condensation process, I can make sure the next batch doesn't get those clumps.." Tooni offered, "We can use the scraps left over from the condensating and you can see how I do the filtering."
"That'd be great." Art said through his swollen mouth.
Over the next hour, the two human friends watched as the short Tooni go about her method of perfecting the spice that Kurka the Hutt had made millions off of. They could tell she had many cooks under her belt, every aspect of the spice making process was done with blade-like precision. Ash and Art made careful mental notes, following the Chadra-Fan's lead. Her happy-go-lucky attitude would have made them forget about the beating earlier, had it not been for the throbbing pain that still lingered all over their bruised bodies.
Eventually, the guards decided to call it a night, and sent the slaves to their quarters in the lower levels of the ship, which was probably originally designated to be used as storage for live animals. The slave quarters had been modified to have bunks and tiny, dim lights in the ceilings. Aside from that, there was very little make them feel like anything other than cages.
Ash and Art were given the bunks in the cage adjacent to Tooni and her bunkmate, a rude but quiet Saurin who seemed to sleep just to get away from the Chadra-Fan's overly positive ramblings. Ash and Art lay in their bunks, sore from the beatings and from working in the spice lab all day with no break.
"How did things get so messed up?" Ash asked, "I mean we were set. We had things figured out, we had a plan..."
"We did, but that slime-ball Kurka had other plans..." Art replied, "and I'll make sure he gets what's coming to him."
"Are you gonna take him on, all by yourself?" Ash said.
"If that's what it takes, man. This shit is humiliating." Art said.
"Hey!" Tooni said.
"He doesn't mean any offense, Tooni." Ash said.
"All's I'm saying is, this isn't going to be what the rest of our lives look like. We'll be free one day, and we have to be ready for it when that day comes." Art said.
"I hope you're right, bro..." Ash said, "I'm gonna try and get some sleep, man, you should too."
"Yeah, good idea." Art said as he rolled over onto his side.
Art couldn't go to sleep though. All he could see was red as he stewed on the thought of Bihan's death. He wanted to wrap his hands around Kurka's fat throat and choke the life out of him. Murderous thoughts kept him awake, fueled his motivation as he daydreamed about breaking out of the ship, tracking down the Hutt and finalizing his revenge. All the while, Ash drifted to sleep, trying to make it through to the next day, and the next...